Professor Ioannis
Kakadiaris (www.cs.uh.edu/~ioannisk), noted for his cutting edge research in
biometrics and cardiovascular informatics, was recently named a Hugh Roy and
Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor, one of the university's most
prestigious honors.

"I am
deeply indebted to the Cullen family for their generosity to the University of
Houston. I am proud to be part of UH and
honored to hold this professorship. I want to emphasize that the
research accomplishments to date are the result of close collaboration with the
students and postdoctoral fellows in my research group along with notable
colleagues from a variety of fields, including mathematics, science,
engineering and medicine. Interacting with our Tier-1 caliber students is one
of the most gratifying aspects of my profession. This honor is dedicated to all of them.”

Kakadiaris, whose primary faculty appointment is in computer science, is also a joint faculty member for the departments of biomedical engineering and electrical & computer engineering. As director of the Computational Biomedicine Lab (CBL, www.cbl.uh.edu),he utilizes high performance computing facilities provided by the Texas Learning & Computation Center (TLC2) in combination with the lab’s proprietary image analysis software to develop pragmatic solutions to problems with significant societal impact.

CBL stands at the forefront of research in image computing,
generating solutions to applications of computer vision and pattern recognition
with an emphasis on computational life science sciences (cancer informatics,
cardiovascular informatics, and neuroinformatics), non-verbal human behavior
understanding (facial structure and expression analysis and human activity
analysis).

For example, in the domain of cardiovascular informatics, CBL
is developing a new scoring algorithm capable of identifying individuals at
risk of suffering a heart attack in the next 12 months. The lab’s previous work
in vasa vasorum (neovascularization) imaging pioneered a new active research
area.

In
the domain of biometrics, CBL has developed a proprietary 3D face recognition
software that won top ranking in the 3D-shape section of the 2007 Face
Recognition Vendor Test (FRVT) organized by NIST, and currently develops a 3D-aided
2D face recognition system whose initial results outperform state-of-the-art
2D-face recognition methods.

Kakadiaris’
research is supported by grants from federal sources (National Science
Foundation, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Defense, and U.S.
Department of Justice), the state (Norman Hackerman Advanced Research
Program),
and industry. Awards from such prestigious funding entities are another strong
testament to the value of his research.

One of the many
significant outgrowths of Kakadiaris’ pioneering efforts is co-founding the
Pumps & Pipes conference along with Drs. Alan B. Lumsden (Methodist DeBakey
Heart and Vascular Center) and William E. Kline. This prodigious annual event unites
cardiovascular researchers with energy scientists and engineers from two of
the nation’s largest and most vital industries, medicine and energy, along with
researchers from the University of Houston to develop complementary
technologies.

In
addition, Kakadiaris recently co-founded and participated in a community
outreach program called “UH Researcher for a Day,” designed to expose high
school students to the challenges and rewards of hands-on scientific research.

“One of our missions as academic researchers is
to promote the value of basic research to find solutions to problems with high
societal impact. This has the potential to be a life-changing experience for
some kids who come from a very economically challenged area of our city,” said
Kakadiaris.

It is easy to discern why Kakadiaris was
nominated for a Cullen designation given his many notable achievements as a
researcher, professor, and mentor.

"Ioannis
Kakadiaris conducts groundbreaking research that transcends traditional
boundaries between disciplines and generates highly interesting results with
potential for great impact,” said TLC2 Director Lennart Johnsson.
“He also demonstrates a strong commitment to community outreach and peer-based
training. His approach closely reflects TLC2’s mission, and his
contributions to research and the community are significant and laudable.
Awarding a Cullen Distinguished Professor designation to Ioannis Kakadiaris is
well-deserved."

The
nomination originated from Eckhard Pfeiffer Professor of Computer Science
Ioannis Pavlidis with support from Chair of Computer Science Jaspal Subhlok. It
was then reviewed by a committee of Cullen professors along with internal and
external recommendations from his peers, culminating in a recommendation to the
provost.

Pavlidis
spoke highly of his colleague when asked to comment on the award. “The
attainment of the Cullen Distinguished University Professor status signifies due
recognition for Professor Kakadiaris’ illustrious research, teaching, and
service record to the imaging community and this university. It also brings to
the fore the first class human capital the computer science department has
cultivated in the last decade.”

Subhlok
shared his reasons for endorsing the nomination. "Dr. Kakadiaris is an
invaluable asset to the University of Houston. His record of research at the
intersection of health and computing is phenomenal, judged by technical
publications and societal impact. His leadership in the university and
professional community has clearly helped raise the profile of the computer
science department and the University of Houston. No less impressive is his
record as a teacher and mentor. I am delighted that he has been awarded a
richly deserved Cullen Professorship."

Dr.
Kakadiaris joined UH in August 1997 following a postdoctoral fellowship at the
University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Kakadiaris earned a B.Sc. in Physics at the University
of Athens in Greece, M.Sc. in Computer Science from Northeastern University,
and Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania.

He
has received numerous awards throughout his career, including the NSF Early
Career Development Award, and the James Muller Vulnerable Plaque Young
Investigator Prize.

His
research has also garnered significant media attention from the Discovery
Channel, National Public Radio, KPRC NBC News, and KHOU CBS News.